On a branch of scrambled files and broken dreams
by A Voodoo Gypsy
Summary: The County of Corrupted Code is a strange place where many odd occurrences present themselves to the human eye. Yet, when the Kingdom of the Mists sends their Ambassador to their doorstep, on account of rumored disappearances, the majority of the County doesn't quite know what's what yet. But they will... and soon. Because soon... They will face a challenge unlike any other.


IMPORTANT NOTE: This work takes place after A Red Rose Chain, and considers the events of The Toby Daye Crew go to Hogwarts to be canonical.

Daoine Sidhe (doon-ya-shee) plural is Daoine Sidhe, diminutive is Daoine.

Cait Sidhe (kayth-shee) plural is Cait Sidhe.

Tuatha de Dannan (tootha day dan-ann) plural is Tuatha de Dannan, diminutive is Tuatha.

Cornavia $ _ **LATIN**_ $ (corn-ah-we-ah) No plural exists.

Dochás Sidhe (doe-shah-s-shee) Plural is Dochás Sidhe.

The Luidaeg (the-loo-sha-k) No plural exists.

Annwn (ah-noon) No plural exists.

Μήπως σας σοβαρά গুগল অনুবাদ ব্যবহার করুন Бұл барлық аудару үшін پیچھے اگلا، دوسرا انگریزی میں

Running translation software…

Configuring colloquial preferences…

Translating…

Translation complete. Uploading translated data…

I waited, watching the wall materialize before me while everyone else cleared onto the other side of the wall. The reason for the wall was to minimize leakage, as exposure to the Void did strange things to the eyes and soul. As the wall finished compiling, I turned to the wall behind me, and dispelled a section 18.75 feet wide and tall with a press of the Backspace key.

Looking into the untextured blackness that was the Void, I carefully measured two walls extending 46.875 feet in front of me, spaced them apart to be on the ends of the clear section, hit Enter on my keyboard to compile them, and watched as the change on my screen was mirrored in the knowe. After giving the wall the texture of simple bricks, I repeated the process with the floor and ceiling. Giving the extension a cursory look, I extended the floor 125 feet in front of me, then extended _that_ 43.75 feet to the left and the right, giving me the floor area I was coding.

Sorry, I don't believe I introduced myself. My name is Dusk Shλde, Count of Corrupted Code, though some refer to me as ConEditor, or the "Voodoo Gypsy." I've not the foggiest where they get "Voodoo Gypsy" from, but I'd be lying if I said that I hadn't grown fond of it. Anyways, I am what is known as a Cyber-Dryad. I am not the first of my kind - that honor would go to April O'Leary, Countess of Tamed Lightning - but I am the first to take the whole "the king is the land" thing quite _this_ literally.

You see, I _don't_ see the world the way most people do. As such, neither does the knowe. The whole place runs on the Source Engine, and looks to Havok for its physics. This means that I can use the Hammer Editor to shape the knowe to my heart's content. However, this also comes with a few downsides.

For instance, I was the only person in the County that could view the Void without getting my personality data irreversibly corrupted. This meant that to protect my subjects - my _**friends**_ \- I had to seal off any areas that were going to be reconstructed before beginning said modification. Hence the wall, which was textured with an opaque hazard warning that tiled the plane, signaling to all that the area was off-limits.

However, another, separate issue was that I could not leave the knowe, as my team of engineers and coders hadn't yet finished constructing the mobile server. I had considered asking Tamed Lightning for help, but seeing as how the Kingdom of the Mists - and by extension, TL - was on the other side of the country, that was a no-go. The Kingdom of Rainfalls spanned the East coast of the United States of America; the Mists covered the West.

Yeah, not that great for communication. I mean, even in the Summerlands, that's a _**LONG**_ walk.

But my thinking processes also had their upsides. For instance, getting from one end of the knowe to the other was a simple as sticky jumping across. It might not be the most fun, and it was probably the scariest for newcomers, but short of the Tuatha Express? It was the quickest way there was.

As I finished setting down the walls, I heard a beeping in my right microphone - errr, ear. I raised a finger to tap it, and politely asked, "Hello?"

My Seneschal, Cornavia, replied with "Excellentia Vestra sunt Visitors-"

I winced. "English, please."

A pause. The sound of a translation software running. "Your Excellency, there are visitors at the gate."

I paused. Visitors? In the middle of my sunroom construction? "I'll be down in a moment."

Teleporting to the gate, I bore witness to a scene most amusing. A band of one Daoine Sidhe, one Cait Sidhe, and two whose bloodlines I couldn't quite place, though they were similar to Daoine Sidhe, all staring down Cornavia, a Tuatha De Dannan who came from a time when Latin was still spoken, and hadn't quite moved from then. Cornavia relaxed significantly when she saw me. "Optimo visitatores amicitiam non appareat. Mittam eos?"

Seeing the stares of the motley band, I applied a liberal amount of palm to face and sighed. "Cornavia…"

Cornavia shrunk. "I… English is hard…"

Again, a sigh. "I understand that, but very few people understand Latin." The reason she even knew what I was saying was that we had fitted her with a microphone in her inner ear that automatically translated everything she heard into Latin. Sadly, the translation was one-way only.

The more brunnette not-Daoine asked "What'd she even say?"

"That you didn't appear friendly, and asked if she should send you away." I supplied, giving Cornavia a quick hug.

The Cait Sidhe snorted. "She most certainly should not."

I refuse to embarrass my Seneschal more than she already has been. "Well, it's not her fault you just turned up on our doorstep and started staring at her semi-menacingly."

The Daoine Sidhe snorted. This, in turn, earned him a stare from the more brunnette not-Daoine.

I decided to drop the other shoe. "Now, who are you again?"

"Sorry, I kinda got distracted," said the more brunnette not-Daoine. "My name is October Daye. This is my squire, Quentin;" she pointed to the Daoine; "my sister, May;" she pointed out her semi-duplicate; "and my husband-to-be, Tybalt." She pointed to the Cait Sidhe.

"Hello, Mrs. Daye," I said. "If you don't mind my asking, what species are you and your sister?"

She hesitated. "Dochás Sidhe," she said. "And my sister is actually my retired Fetch."

The explanation shocked me into teleporting a few centimeters into the ground. Not noticing at first, their stares informed me that something was wrong. Looking down, there I was, feet in the ground. Granting them a sheepish smile, I teleported the few centimeters up required to extricate me from the earth's greedy clutches.

Just then, a rather harried looking courtier skidded into my Line Of Sight, carrying a letter. "Is it another postcard with chimpanzees?" I asked, jokingly.

"Your Excellency, a letter from the Mists." panted the courtier.

The shock caused my client to hang momentarily. The mists wrote a letter to me? "Cornavia, would you mind…?"

"Utique vestra requirebat excellentia!" said Cornavia, practically pronking from the excitement. She scanned the letter, and uploaded the contents onto a data file. "You're very kind," I said in an affectionate tone. Damn Faerie society for all but banning the phrase "thank you." It made expressing gratitude needlessly complicated.

I took the offered data file and jacked it into my laptop. I smiled as the words appeared on my screen… And then my smile faltered as the files of the individuals mentioned popped up on my screen, scrolling too fast for any mortal eyes to read.

Oh dear. _This_ would be interesting.

I killed the individual data files, leaving only the letter. It read:

"To ConEditor, Count of Corrupted Code

We write to inform you that in three days time, the Ambassador in the Mists will arrive at your County to investigate the rumored disappearances of numerous changelings within your borders in recent months. The Ambassador, Sir October Daye, Knight of Lost Words in service to Duke Torquill of Shadowed Hills, will be accompanied by her fiancé, Tybalt, King of Dreaming Cats; her squire, Quentin Sollys; and her Fetch, May Daye. Please treat them well.

Best of relations,

Arden Windermere, Queen in the Mists."

I stared. Disappearing changelings? In _**MY**_ County? Half of my staff was made up of changelings, and they were treated with the same respect as purebloods. We didn't even have goblin fruit. Why would there be rumors about them disappearing? Frelling rather confused, I killed the letter and looked to October and her colleagues. "So you're here about disappearing changelings?" I asked, devoting about a quarter of a server to figuring out how the hell they'd beaten their letter here.

"Yep," said May. "We're here about _that._

"Well, that's odd, considering half the staff is changelings, and the numbers have neither increased nor decreased in the past two years." I said, a quizzical look on my face. "This is the first I've heard about changelings in my County disappearing. How did the Mists hear of these rumors?

"Word travels, Dryad, and faster in the Court of Cats." said Tybalt.

"So this information came to you via the Court of Frosting Cats?" I asked.

"From the Frosts to the Whips to the Whispers to the Dreams, yes." He said.

That was unusual. Corrupted Code had had good relations with the Court of Frosting Cats since they became a court. Why would _they_ be spreading rumors?

"Did the Frosts mention where _they_ heard these rumors?" I asked, confusion evident in my tone.

"They said it was a young Dryad, scarcely five years of age, who came to them with this information." Tybalt replied.

"QUID/WHAT?!" Cornavia and I shouted simultaneously. I was momentarily proud of us for being so in sync, but there wasn't time for that.

The only Dryad fitting that description was Nestle, whose tree was just outside our borders. We watered her every day and gave her fertilizer and rich soil. Why would _**she**_ be starting rumours about disappearing changelings? She may not like me, but why would she do that?

"But that makes no sense!" I exclaimed. I was briefly impressed with myself for fitting _five_ exclamation points in that one sentence, but yet again, said impressive feeling lived a short life, and died in a corner, screaming for its mother. The reason for such was that October was eyeing me expectantly, as if waiting for me to crack. Like a shark, waiting for its wounded prey to stop swimming. Though if her file was to be believed, that might not be an entirely inaccurate comparison, given her abilities as a blood worker.

Luckily, I was spared from further eyeing by Cornavia. "Vestra requirebat excellentia, eam appropinquare-" Yet her rescuing words were interrupted by me giving her an eye of my own. She shrank a bit, and pulled out her iPad. Slowly, enunciating carefully, she said "It is approaching the hour of dawn in the mortal world. Perhaps we should show our guests to their rooms?"

To which I responded, "Yes, yes of course, we should. There's a reason why you're my Seneschal, and that right there is it, Cornavia." To October and her merry men, I said "Fair warning though, the transition's going to be very rough, as you're transitioning from one physics engine to another."

"Whoopee," deadpanned October.

Stepping through, they almost immediately fell down as the Havok Engine asserted control. "Like that," I said. "Exactly like that."

Once they were back on their feet, I offered to show them (how to copy+paste from mobile to a computer) to the guest quarters. "How long will you be staying with us?" I asked.

"About nine days," said May.

"Excellent. If you would come this way," I said, gesturing to the - admittedly absurdly large hallway, now that I thought about it - and once they began to walk forward, I began to lead them. Seriously though, I had forgotten just how BIG this hallway was. And why it was so big in the first place. Why again did I need that much hallway? Anyways, once we got about a third of the way to the end, I instructed them to take two steps to the left, three steps back, six steps right, and one step forth, doing the same once they had done so.

The motions had guided us through a series of linked_portal_door entities, and into a different hallway than the one we had previously been in. I was personally a fan of faux-non-euclidean geometry, considering it allowed me to place hallways within hallways without overlapping any.

Coming to a door that was labeled 'Guest Quarters' (not the money kind of quarters), I opened said door and gestured for them to enter. Once they did, I told them "These are the guest rooms. They are, in accordance with County policies, free of the following items: recording charms, recording devices, listening charms, listening devices, magic suppressors, sharp walls, hard walls, hidden pins/needles, traps, complimentary whoopee cushions, catnip, catmint, and Admin control. If you find any of the items listed, please contact an Administrator, Operator, or me, and we will investigate the complaint as soon as we are available to do so. Furthermore, these quarters are equipped with: waste bins, biohazard bins, biohazard bags, recycle bins, resupply lockers, large beds, walk-in wardrobes, showers, mirrors, an anti-noclip field, ten rubber ducks, an armory, windows, multiple rooms, several desktops, with two monitors to each a desktop, twelve spinny-chairs, seven complimentary towels, a fish tank, an entrance to the panic room/storm bunker in each room, (including the bathrooms), multiple bathrooms, a chem lab, and potentially twelve rather miffed rats that we're not sure how they got in, and we're still trying to clear out. Please tell us if you see any of them, we'll be there in an instant. Oh, and there's an intercom."

I had rattled that all off in the space of about two minutes, taking advantage of the fact that I didn't actually have to breathe like a normal person. "If you can't remember all that, there's a full list on the inside of the main door." I said, smiling.

They blinked. Quentin and May began to laugh, while Tybalt and October traded amused glances. "You can leave the rats to me," said Tybalt.

Cornavia giggled. I snorted, beginning to laugh myself. I had been truthful - there really weren't any complimentary whoopee cushions, those were located on the benches in the side hallways - but it was my thoroughness and text speed that usually got people laughing. Though I'm getting off-topic here, Cornavia's voice really was quite nice. Especially when she was giggling like she was now.

Getting control of my laughter (and my console window), I finished chuckling and sighed. "Ahh... I needed that laugh." Wishing them a good day, because most fae are nocturnal, I walked out of the door, gently closing it behind me. I was going to find Sunshine, one of our best coders and the nicest Daoine Sidhe/Ellylon you'll ever meet.

Being the daughter of Eira Rosenhwyr and the Ellylon Firstborn, Sunshine was an incredibly powerful healer, and her Ellylon blood counteracted the natural tendency of Daoine Sidhe to seek power. She was as old as, if not older than, Cornavia. The difference, however, was that Sunshine was a major polyglot, and would speak whichever language her patient was most comfortable with. Being the daughter of a Firstborn, she could secrete a whole slew of chemicals through her skin, including endorphins, sedatives, stimulants, and even certain vaccines. And being so long-lived had given her a nigh indispensable knowledge of customs of all sorts, and knew how to be polite in almost every society.

I was dealing with foreign dignitaries, and I didn't know how to deal with them. Sunshine, however, almost certainly would.

Teleporting outside the door to her office, I knocked ten times before I heard "Come in!"

Opening the door and stepping inside, I saw Sunshine facing the door in her spinny-chair, a pleasant expression on her face, kindness twinkling in her eyes, which were the color of the skies on a beautiful summer afternoon. Her smile brightened when she saw me. "Dusk! How's it going?"

"Sort of well, but potentially not so well." I replied. "You see, the Ambassador in the Mists and her associates recently arrived, evidently ahead of their letter. I've read their files and shown them to the guest quarters, but I'm still not sure how to handle this." I explained. Sunshine, in addition to being a physical healer, was equally proficient in mental and emotional health. She was the psychiatrist for the entire knowe, and everyone loved her for such.

"Did you introduce yourself?" She asked.

I froze. _**CRAP.**_ I had completely forgotten to -no. I hadn't forgotten to introduce myself to them. Saying that I had forgotten implied that the thought had even crossed my mind. Which it hadn't.

Well. This would be even more interesting than I thought it would be.

Crap.

~~~END CHAPTER α1~~~


End file.
